


the worst haircuts in tokyo

by distortionist



Series: io’s persona brainrot [3]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Gen, Non-binary character, akira is trans too. it’s not mentioned but it’s there, makoto and akira r found family siblings.... u cannot take that away from me, persona 5 protagonist is called akira
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distortionist/pseuds/distortionist
Summary: “Hello?” Akira mumbles tiredly. “You okay?”“I’m outside your house,” is all Makoto says in response. Akira blinks.“Huh?”
Relationships: Niijima Makoto & Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: io’s persona brainrot [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038486
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	the worst haircuts in tokyo

**Author's Note:**

> the title is a sweeney todd joke because. get it. haircuts.
> 
> i am the funniest person on this website thank you and goodnight /j 
> 
> anyways!! in my brain makoto and akira r like... adoptive siblings. like they met and akira was like “oh you are my sibling now thank you very much.” and they have a running inside joke abt them being twins

When Akira is woken up by a phone call at three in the morning, the last person he expects to be calling is Makoto “Honors-Student-Perfect-Sleep-Schedule-Student-Council-President” Niijima— To be honest, he briefly wonders if Makoto fell asleep with her phone nearby and somehow managed to call him in her sleep.

“Hello?” Akira mumbles tiredly. “You okay?”

“I’m outside your house,” is all Makoto says in response. Akira blinks. 

“Huh?”

“I’m at Leblanc. Can—“ Makoto hesitates. “Can I come in?”

“Yes, but... Can I ask why you’re outside Leblanc at three in the morning?” Akira asks as he reluctantly stands up, heading downstairs into the café. 

“I’ll explain in a minute,” Makoto says before hanging up. Akira sighs and walks across the café, nearly tripping over a barstool in the darkness. 

When he opens the door, he’s greeted by an extremely disheveled Makoto. 

“Uhm... Good morning?” she says, smiling awkwardly.

Akira glances at the time on his phone.

“Yes, it certainly is morning.” He steps back, holding the door open for Makoto. He shuts and locks it once again as she steps inside the café. “Are you alri—“

“I’m nonbinary,” Makoto blurts out, unintentionally shouting the words. Akira winces, almost instinctively moving to cover his ears. Makoto’s eyes widen. “S-Sorry!”

“It’s fine, just—“ Akira’s brain is too tired to properly process what Makoto had even said before. After a moment, his brain catches up properly, and his eyes widen with surprise. “Okay, that’s really great, and I’m so happy you trust me enough to tell me, but do you mind if I really quickly step away to turn the lights on? It’s very awkward talking in the dark like this.”

“Oh! Oh, y-yeah! Go ahead!” Makoto stammers out, laughing nervously. Akira walks to the front of the store, flicking on the lights and immediately regretting it. He squeezes his eyes closed at the sudden bright light, giving himself a long moment to adjust. 

“Okay. Cool. We’re good.” He shoots Makoto a thumbs up as he walks back over to her. She’s now sitting on one of the barstools, fidgeting with one of Sojiro’s crossword magazines. “Well. I’m very proud of you, but— May I ask why you decided to do this at three in the morning?”

“Well, uhm...” Makoto stares down at the counter, avoiding eye contact. “I— I was gonna tell you all yesterday evening. When we all had dinner together. But... I told my sister first, and she. Didn’t really take it all that well.” 

Something clicks in Akira’s brain— Makoto had been acting strange all evening the other day. He had meant to ask her what was up, but never got the chance. 

“Do I need to beat Sae up?” he asks, despite knowing full well that Sae could very easily knock him out with a single punch. 

“No,” Makoto laughs a bit, “you don’t. She’s— She’s trying her best to understand. She just has the wrong idea about it. She thinks I’m trying to ‘escape my womanhood’ because we live in a misogynistic society. She gave me this whole lecture on how I can be a woman and successful at the same time, but... She didn’t really hear me out when I tried to explain.”

“That sucks. I’m sorry, Makoto.” Akira frowns, reaching over to grab Makoto’s hands. “I’m sure she’ll come around eventually.”

“Yeah! Yeah. I’m sure she will.” Makoto sighs. “It just. It kind of hurt a little, y’know? I was so excited to tell her. I thought she’d... maybe be proud of me for figuring it all out. And— I’m not rejecting my womanhood, or whatever. I mean. I still am a woman, in a sense? I’m— I’m a girl, but not... entirely. Does that make any sense?”

“Yeah, I think it does.” Akira shrugs. “Gender is weird.”

“Yeah...” Makoto smiles a bit. “I guess the best way to explain it is like— I’m a girl, but not in the way girls usually are...? And even then, I feel like part of me is just... Not A Girl at all.”

“Okay.” Akira nods. “Like... A girl, but the free trial version where you can’t use all the functions but it’s worth it anyways ‘cause you don’t wanna spend ¥5,000 for the real subscription.”

“Something like that, yeah.” Makoto giggles. “Thanks for being understanding. It— It means a lot to me.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that. It’s literally just basic human decency.”

“Well, yeah, but— Not everyone really has basic decency.” Makoto sighs. “I’m gonna tell the others next time we’re all together. I just— I needed to tell someone and get it off my chest, and you were the first person I thought of. I couldn’t sleep because I was crying too hard over my dumb sister. Well— She’s not dumb, I’m just angry, and—“

“Slow down.” Akira squeezed Makoto’s hands. “It’s alright. I get it. Hey, by the way, what should I call you?”

“I... I like the name Makoto. I’m fine with that. Uh, as for pronouns— I like she and they. Both are nice. Maybe you guys can alternate between the two...? And, um. Maybe don’t use feminine language for me too much? I like neutral terms more.”

“Got it,” Akira says, grinning. “Makoto Niijima is my very cool non-biological twin sibling, and personally, I think I would die for them given the opportunity.”

Makoto’s face flushes red as she smiles sheepishly.

“Oh, come on, you’re too sweet.” Suddenly, she frowns a little, fidgeting with Akira’s hands nervously. “Uh, by the way... I was wondering if maybe you’d. Uhm. Maybe you could cut my hair for me? I know that’s sorta sudden, but—“

Akira blinks.

“Me?”

“Well! I was gonna ask sis, since she cuts her own hair, but... That didn’t go all that well.” Makoto sighs. “I could just go to a salon, but. I’m too nervous. It’s like ripping off a bandaid, y’know? I feel like if I don’t do it now, I never will.”

Makoto lets go of Akira’s hands, reaching into her bag. She pulls out a comb and a pair of scissors.

“I stole sis’s hair scissors before I left. She’s going to kill me when I get home, but... It’ll be worth it, I think it.” 

“I’m going to be dead honest with you, I have no idea how great I’m going to be at this, but if you want me to do it—“ 

“Yes, I do,” Makoto interrupts. “Now please just do it before I get nervous and change my mind.”

“Fair enough.” Akira nods. “The bathroom here is tiny, so we’ll have to just do it out here. I’ll go grab a towel to put around your shoulders, so you don’t have hair all over you.”

Before Makoto can reply, Akira rushes off to do exactly that. He also comes back with a spray bottle filled with water.

“I’m assuming this will be easier to do on wet hair, so I grabbed an empty spray bottle and filled it with water.” Akira places the towel around Makoto’s shoulders, tying it together in the front. “Okay, this might be kinda cold? So here’s your warning.”

Akira begins spraying Makoto’s hair, combing through it to make sure it’s all thoroughly wetted. When he’s done with that, he grabs the scissors off the counter.

“You’re sure about this?” 

“Yes.” Makoto nods, taking a deep breath. “Just get it over with, please?” 

“How short do you want it?”

“Uh— Like those trendy pixie cuts girls are getting lately. But maybe make it longer in the front and shorter in the back?”

“I... can possibly do that? Maybe?” Akira tries to sound reassuring, but he’s only barely got a grasp on what he’s doing. 

“It’s okay. If it’s terrible, I’ll have sis fix it.”

“Alright.” With that, Akira grabs a section of Makoto’s hair and snips it off. Makoto visibly tenses up as she watches the chunk of hair fall to the floor, but says nothing. Akira takes that as his cue to continue.

It takes about a half hour of cutting and calming Makoto’s nerves, but eventually, her hair is cut decently enough. It’s slightly uneven, but Akira decides to just run with the excuse that pixie cuts are usually somewhat messy anyways.

“You wanna see it?” he asks, untying the towel and tossing it on the floor— He has plenty of cleaning up to do now anyways.

Makoto nods eagerly and runs over to the bathroom, Akira following close behind. She covers her eyes, facing the mirror anxiously. 

“Oh god, sis is going to kill me.” With one more anxious deep breath, Makoto lowers her hands, staring at her reflection with wide eyes. She pokes and prods at her hair, running her fingers through it in wonder. “Akira...”

Tears start to well up in her eyes, and she turns around to hug Akira tightly. After only a moment, she’s already sobbing into his shoulder.

“That bad, huh?” he asks. Makoto punches his shoulder.

“It’s perfect, smart-ass.” She sniffles, pulling away from the hug. “Thank you. Seriously. It feels like a huge weight off my chest, somehow.”

“No problem.” Akira ruffles Makoto’s hair, smiling fondly at her. “You wanna help me clean up before Sojiro gets here and kicks both of our asses?”

“Yeah. Good plan.” Makoto laughs, grabbing a broom. “You clean off the counter, and then I’ll sweep the floor.”

“Roger that, captain.”

(Needless to say, the two spend the rest of the morning cleaning hair off the floors and counter of Leblanc. And if Sojiro is shocked to see them sweeping the floor when he comes in to open up shop, he decides not to comment on it.)


End file.
